Medway animal charity pushes legislation all the way to protect cats

Animals lost and found in Kent have been campaigning for around 6 years for the rules on microchips to be brought in line with the rules for dogs.

Transcript

00:00 The Medway charity that turned a dream into legislation.

00:04 Natasha and her partner Dee started Animals Lost and Found in Kent after their cat went missing.

00:10 They've played a crucial role in making microchipping cats mandatory across the UK.

00:16 And the legislation came into force this week.

00:19 This is where it all began for Dee and Natasha ten years ago

00:23 in their mission to help rescue and protect cats right across Medway and Kent.

00:27 But it's been in the last six years where they've really been pushing that all cats in the UK get microchipped.

00:33 Currently about 25% aren't.

00:36 But they hope with this new legislation those numbers will start to change.

00:40 I mean we're only a small cog in a massive part of a massive machine that's actually made this work.

00:46 And when it came to how strongly we felt about the microchipping legislation

00:52 and it needing to be changed to cats too.

00:55 We did get a bit of a back from it but people saying actually you can't govern this.

01:00 It's not going to work and dogs are bigger than cats and cats are free roamers.

01:05 And what about the feral?

01:06 If your cat is chipped it comes home.

01:09 It's as simple as that because you don't own the animal, you own the chip.

01:12 It's exactly the same really technically as a car and a logbook.

01:16 You own the logbook not the car.

01:18 And if you're not logging your pet well you could face a fine of up to £500.

01:23 National charity Cats Protection say the deterrent is working

01:27 despite record numbers of animals being rescued and microchipping being a challenge to police.

01:33 This isn't about trying to fine people or make money from people.

01:37 This is more about trying to encourage people and show how important it is that they have their cats microchipped.

01:43 So I think when people are found to not have their cats microchipped

01:46 they'll be given a notice and have 21 days to go to the vet and get their cat microchipped.

01:51 And this will cost between, depending where you are in the country, £20 and £30.

01:56 And that money means volunteers like Natasha can check on any lost or injured cats.

02:02 So you have to really go over the entire animal.

02:05 I always start here and I go down and then I go down the other side.

02:10 And I do it slowly. I go in with the mindset of there's a chip there, I need to find it.

02:14 Where some people just go, oh they're not chipped.

02:17 It's not good enough. I always try really hard and the other volunteers try really hard

02:22 to make sure that that animal is scanned properly and thoroughly.

02:25 Unlike dogs at eight weeks, cats must be microchipped and registered by the time they're 20 weeks old

02:31 with contact details stored and kept up to date in an approved database.

02:36 And just like the paw prints in the concrete when this place was built,

02:40 Natasha's push for this legislation is now cemented in the heart of what they do.

02:45 Abbey Hook for KMTV in Medway.